Baseball has been referred to as America's Pastime. For over one hundred years its popularity as both a spectator event and recreational activity has not diminished. Nearly every community has youth leagues where children as young as five years old participate in organized baseball games.
One of the most difficult skills for a young player to learn is to swing the baseball bat level. Indeed, players of all ages, including professional baseball players, continually practice their swing. A level swing provides optimum contact with the ball, produces the most power and, hence, increases the probability of achieving a “base hit”.
One key factor used in producing a level baseball swing is to develop what is commonly called “muscle memory” of a proper swing. In essence, repeatedly executing a level swing allows the utilized muscle groups to “remember” what a level swing feels like so that proper execution becomes automatic. Swing training devices, therefore, are designed to allow immediate feedback to the hitter to consistently and repeatedly produce the desired level swing.
Throughout the years many attempts have been made to develop a baseball swing trainer or warm up device which is uncomplicated in structure, economic to produce, adjustable to different size hitters, and allows for automatic return of the baseball to a starting position.
These devices have included various methods of suspending a ball from a rope mounted to a horizontal support member; attaching a ball to a rigid member; or combinations of the two, such as a suspending a rope with a portion of the rope passing through a tube positioned immediately above the ball. The ideal swing training device would also cause the ball when struck with a level swing to consistently take a smooth fight path that simulates the natural motion of a well struck pitched ball.
Unfortunately, the ideal swing trainer has not yet been achieved. Known ball striking devices have either failed to duplicate the normal striking position of a well struck pitched ball, failed to provide a realistic feel and flight of a well struck pitched ball, are overly complex, or are too expensive to manufacture to allow purchase for young ball players. Accordingly, there is still a continuing need for improved baseball swing trainers. The present invention fulfills this need, and further provides related advantages.